Thursday 17 June 1943

[296-8]. The following were absent on active service: J. Duffield, Onchan, G. Sayle, Lezayre, B. Farrer, Rushen, C. H. C. Lamb, St John's, Capt. F. B. Johnson, tithe agent.

The following were excused by the lord bishop: H. W. Young, St Olave's. The following were absent: R. H. Reid and G. W. Hulme, licensed to preach. The lord bishop then delivered his charge. Convocation was adjourned for twenty minutes and was resumed in the ante-chapel.

Minutes and matters arising

The minutes of the last convocation were read by the secretary. The vicar of Kirk Michael stated that his parish had not received the grant from the Manx Fund as stated in the minutes. The archdeacon thought it might be an error for Kirk Maughold. This was denied by the vicar of Kirk Maughold. The archdeacon said he would enquire into the matter - the grants were distributed in a rigid rota and the error was of writing, not of granting. The minutes were agreed to and signed.

Photographs of the parish registers

Arising from the minutes, the archdeacon moved that last years resolution with regard to photographing the registers be rescinded. This was in view of the fact that the lord bishop, [299] unaware of this resolution, had informed incumbents that he did not approve of the Cannon family scheme as it did not preserve the copyright to the clergy.

The lord bishop gave a full account of his actions in respect to this question, his consultation with the archbishop of York, his correspondence with the photographers and with the Society of Genealogists. He would prefer that only the last part of the resolution be rescinded, i.e. ‘And advises incumbents to accept the offer of the Cannon family to have this work done, free of cost to the parishes and diocese.’ A long and interesting discussion followed.

The rector of Bride said that registers of Bride had been carefully copied already and photostat copies were in his case unnecessary. The vicar of Kirk German thought the whole question very involved and that a discussion should be left to the vicar-general.